Geeks are Sexy - 2/19/2013

Papercraft artist Leo Firebrand just sent in this really cool papercraft model he made of one of the mechs from the upcoming online game Hawken. You can check out some more detailed pics of his creation in the picture gallery below.

Epic Games - 1/18/2012

Papercraft is truly an amazing art form. Matt Milam, of Firebrand Creations has raised the papercraft bar to new heights with his Gears of War Snub Pistol. Matt is a Sr. Technical Writer and Graphic Artist from Dallas, Texas. He is a member of the Society for Technical Communication and Toastmasters and has experience with technical design and training theory. Matt works with many mediums, including duct-tape, plastics, paint, paper and traditional mediums.

When we saw the stunning work Matt did on the Snub Pistol from Gears of War, we knew we had to share it with the community. The link was also passed around Epic Games‘ studio, to the delight of the developers and artists.

Matt Milam: “I believe that presentation is one of the single most crucial aspects of any venture. No matter how good something is, if it is not presented well then it cannot effectively reach its audience. When professional content and skill is combined with superb presentation you can create true quality.”

Great work Matt! We hope to see more of your work in the future. If you want to see more of the Snub Pistol Papercraft, check it out on the Firebrand Creations Website. You can also see the work in progress HERE.

Kotaku - 1/16/2012

Some time ago we shared the papercraft wonder that was Leo Firebrand's Fallout 3 homage: the laser pistol. Paper (and some papier-mâché for the gun handle) alone yielded a believable piece of the post-apocalypse.

Firebrand has taken his gun-smithing to another level with the Snub Pistol used by Gears of War's Marcus Fenix and his fellow comrades-in-arms. At his homepage, Firebrand describes the project as a labor of love and patience, as the inclusion of LEDs presented a distinct challenge. Housing these blue bulbs is, naturally, nothing but paper, paint, and some foam core for internal support.

Make Magazine - 1/19/2012

Graphic designer Matthew Milam of Dallas, TX, made this intricate pepakura model of the “snub” pistol from Epic Games’ popular Gears of War franchise. Unlike most papercraft designers today, Matt eschews the software-based approach and lays out the parts freehand! Bit of foam core are included, here and there, for strength, as well as a battery pack and LEDs for accent lighting. [Thanks, Matt!]

Wired Magazine - 8/23/2011

As a Browncoat, I am amazed by the amount of creativity that my fellow Browncoats seem to possess. I’ve done a few things like re-create Kaylee’s Layer Cake dress from the Firefly episode, Shindig. Along with painting parasols that match the one that Kaylee has in the pilot. But my feeble attempts look really poor when you consider that the Mal’s gun that is pictured is made out of paper!

Leo Firebrand, a papercraft artist, created this replica of the Captain’s pistol using some floral foam, paper and some paint. It is really amazing and so very shiny!

Geeks are Sexy - 8/23/2011

Okay, so Malcolm Reynolds never would have made it if his weapon were really papercraft. But this piece, designed by Leo Firebrand of Firebrand Creations, pays tribute to captain of the good ship Serenity and served the additional purpose of testing out some new craft skills:

Up till now I have tried to find projects that had very rigid geometry since it’s very hard to do subtle curves with paper. I have been playing around with some different techniques and decided it was time to tackle a project that would test them out.

It wasn’t an easy build, as most satisfying projects aren’t, but once the technique of carving the pieces from floral foam and stretching dampened paper over them proved effective, the mock-up pistol took shape.

I used this same technique throughout and I am quite happy with the effect. I also had to really make sure to sand and keep all the edges of my cuts flush with the model since the final gun had to look like a single piece of cast metal. I even built a working trigger assembly based on a flintlock mechanism and a removable clip. I sprayed the final painted model with a semi gloss finish to really give it that metallic gleam.

There are some in-progress shots available, too, if you’d like to see how the project played out. For our part, we think that’s some gorram fine work.

Thanks for sharing, Leo!

Nerd Approved - 8/24/2011

On the Firefly set, the actual pistol Nathan Fillion wore while playing Captain Malcolm Reynolds was almost heavy enough to pull his pants down. One way to avoid that awkward (or awesome, depending on your perspective) situation is to make a replica from paper. Matthew Milam did just that. This pistol is sculpted from paper and then painted with faux metal and wood finishes. The best ammunition for papercraft pistols is spitwads.

Kotaku - 5/25/2010

Look closely, there's not a scrap of metal in this papercraft construction of Fallout 3's laser pistol. Artist Leo Firebrand used paper (and papier-mâché, for the grip) to make something that looks 100 percent capable of incinerating mole rats.

Leo also made Isaac's plasma cutter from Dead Space - finding that the gun's construction clearly was meant for use in outer space, as in the game, "the gun's animations clipped over geometry and the gun's supports violate physics." He still did a beautiful job with the finished product.

Destructoid - 5/23/2010

Yea, that gun is made out of paper. Usually paper craft is pretty awesome, but you can tell it's paper. That thing looks like it could be solid metal. In case you're unsure of what "that thing" is, it's a laser pistol from Fallout 3. It was made by Leo Firebrand of Firebrand Creations, and I dub him officially awesome.

He made the gun in a mostly straightforward manner (whatever that means), but the handle had to be done in papier-mâché because of its ergonomic design. Whatever the technique you could have fooled me. I mean, it's entirely made out of paper. I'm not sure if I can emphasize that enough.

If you want to check out the gun in detail, he has plenty of pics of it over at his site. He's already done the plasma cutter from Dead Space as well and a kick-ass Ghostbuster trap. Any gaming weapons you think he should make next?

Beth Blog - 5/20/2010

Papercraft is really getting out of control. I fear the day that paper finally takes the place of real objects. Like, I’ll be walking to work and realize my shoes are paper shoes. I’ll sit down and say good morning to Matt and his face will come unglued. The walls will fold over and collapse into a pile of colored construction paper, and Todd Howard will emerge from the heap holding an empty bottle of glue, tears in his eyes.

That impressive Fallout 3 laser pistol up there is from Matt Milam of Firebrand Creations. Unfortunately it doesn’t fire paper lasers — yet.